Five Deaths a Day: Workplace Fatalities in Canada, 1993-2005

Andrew Sharpe and Jill Hardt

No 2006-04, CSLS Research Reports from Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Abstract: According to data collected by the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, 1,097 workplace fatalities were recorded in Canada in 2005, up from 758 in 1993. As Canadians work on average 230 days per year, this means that there were nearly five work-related deaths per work day in this country. The objective of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of the characteristics of persons who die on the job and the reasons they die, and to gain a better understanding of developments over time in this key indicator of job quality and labour market well-being. The study is divided into four main sections. The first section provides a comprehensive examination of workplace fatalities in Canada over the 1993-2005 period. The second section of the study provides an international perspective on workplace fatalities. The third section discusses determinants of workplace fatality trends in Canada. The fourth and final section briefly explores the role of asbestos in workplace fatalities in Canada. Two key messages emerge from this study. First, despite the problems associated with the definition and measurement of workplace fatalities, the number and rate of workplace fatalities in Canada, even from accidents, is unacceptably high. Second, insufficient progress is being made in reducing the number and rate of workplace fatalities. Canada can do much better.

Keywords: workplace fatalities; occupational health and safety; workers compensation; asbestos; Canada; OECD; job quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-hea and nep-lab
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